How Does the Inflation Reduction Act Address Climate Change?

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the Senate plans to hold its first vote on Aug. 6 on the Inflation Reduction Act, surprising legislation that he and West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a previous holdout, announced on July 27. 

The budget reconciliation bill that the two Democratic senators have agreed upon aims, in part, to address inflation as well as to lower health care costs and prescription drug prices for millions of people. But if it receives enough votes to become law, most of the bill’s spending — an estimated $369 billion over the next 10 years — would go toward efforts to combat climate change while also investing in “energy security” for the United States. 

The bill’s supporters have said it would reduce U.S. carbon emissions by roughly 40% from 2005 levels by 2030 — an estimate that is within the range of possible outcomes projected by at least